ER/PR Status and Apoptotic Index in Carcinoma Breast- A retroprospective study in tertiary teaching hospital in Western U.P

Introduction: Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women and second most common cause of cancer related death in world.(1) There have been outstanding progress in breast cancer management leading to early detection and treatment of disease for the last few decades. IHC based classification of estrogen receptor/progesterone receptor status works as prognostic factor and help in choosing treatment modalities and is easily approachable. Aim: The present study was undertaken to find out apoptotic index and ER/PR status in breast carcinoma patients and to correlate apoptotic index with ER/PR status and histological grade of breast carcinoma. Material and Method: Sixty six patients with breast neoplasm who were underwent Modified Radical Mastectomy/lumpectomy after the diagnosis of carcinoma breast, on undergoing preliminary FNAC/ Trucut biopsy. Histopathology and IHC were applied on the MRM tissue. Apoptotic index was calculated on H&E stained section. Results: Out of 66 cases studied, maximum cases {60cases (88.2%)} were of Invasive breast carcinoma not otherwise specified (NST). Grade II tumor showed the maximum cases(48.9%). ER positivity was 57.5%, PR positivity was 45.4%. Mean apoptotic index and grade of tumor had significant correlation whereas mean apoptotic index and ER/PR status were not correlated to each other. Conclusion: From the present study, we came to a conclusion that apoptotic index is a useful parameter to assess the prognosis of the patient with the carcinoma breast, similar to ER/PR. Considering the cost factor, in a developing country like India where IHC is beyond the reach of every common man, we conclude that apoptotic index can also be of great help in predicting the prognosis of the patient even if ER/PR status is not known